Tony Robbins - Choosing to Choose: A Practical Guide for Living a Christian Life

A Practical Guide for Living a ChristianLife

Dr. Tony Robbins

Copyright 2011 Dr. Tony Robbins

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9836648-5-7

Dust JacketPress

PO Box 721243 - OklahomaCity, OK 73172

P:800.495.0192

www.facebook.com/dustjacketllc

Follow us on Twitter at:DustJacketLLC

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This eBook is licensed for your personalenjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away toother people. If you would like to share this book with anotherperson, please purchase an additional copy for each person youshare it with. If youre reading this book and did not purchase it,or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should returnto Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you forrespecting the hard work of this author.

In Memory of My Grandparents

Stanley & Frances Robbins

&

Lenard & Betty Daws

Their holiness foundations and scripturalpersistence has guided this generation and will continue to guidemany generations to come if we follow their example.

CONTENTS

Introduction

1. The Peoples Choice

2. Why

3. Blessings

4. Fruit

5. Gift

6. Sanctification

7. Psychology

8. Temperament

9. Family

10. Addiction

11. Ministry

12. Conclusion

Special Thanks

To the best group of people I have ever hadthe privilege to pastor, the people of the Covenant EvangelicalChurch of Christ in Christian Union. Your patience as I spent hoursworking on this project is greatly appreciated. I still believethis is the best church in America!

To my parents who passed on a spiritualheritage not only by words but by examples. They continue to showus what it means to be a Christian family, through prayer, faith,and love.

To my sister and her family, the friendshipwe had as kids has become dearer to me now more than ever. You havemanaged to raise a beautiful family despite difficultcircumstances. I am proud of you! I love you! And between you andme, you still owe me a dollar!

To my mother-in-law, Anita L. Wilt, yourgiving heart often exceeds your means. For that you are blessedamong all men and women. Thanks for the work you did in raisingyour daughter; I can see your giving heart in her!

To my friend Bluesilver, your hours oflistening and support have made this book possible. Your patiencewith me while I droned on over ideas has proven to be very useful.You are a true friend!!

To my children and grandchildren for the joyyou have brought into my life. I can only hope that the messagecontained in these pages does not get overshadowed by the mistakesI have made. I pray that the message of holiness I have been showngets passed on to you.

To my wife Melody, no words can express theway I feel about you. You are the perfect soul mate for me. Godknew exactly what he was doing when he placed us together. Withoutyou, this would still be a dream. You are a virtuous woman, anexalted crown, a treasure I value more than life itself. I loveyou!

Finally, to my Lord and Savior, all that Iam, all that I will be, and one day all that I was is yours. Ichoose you as you have chosen me!

Introduction

The Danger of Self-Help

I realize that most of my readers will befrom the category I am about to denounce, but I ask that you givethe following pages of this introduction real consideration. Themessage I wish to convey is that our help comes from the Lord. Ifyou are looking for a book that will help you draw closer to Himthrough the study of His Word, then this might be the one yourelooking for. However, if you are looking for a book that makes youfeel better about yourself, this book is not for you. This book isnot intended to be a self-help book. Here are some reasons why.

In todays Western society everybody issuffering from something. Most American people seem to berecovering from a host of traumatic events, addictions, past hurts,or are just plain sad. The tendency is to blame these problems onsomeone or something else. Our parents, the past, our brain, andeven society itself have had the blame thrust upon them. It is forthis reason that the self-help industry has seemed to blossom inrecent years. People are trying to get past the problems thatplague their existence. Yet, how effective is the self-helpmovement?

In her book, Help Yourself, Stephanie Forbes takes a look atthe self-help book industry. She shows us how its message istotally contrary to biblical teaching. She teaches us that weshould resist the self-help movement all together, especially inthe church because of the half truths that take us away from ourfocus on God.

Self-esteem, personal success, happiness,and fulfillment seem to be on the top of every Americans list,Christian and Non-Christian alike. Self-help teaches thatvisualization, positive self-talk, and just plain planning willovercome many of these problems. How do these answers stack up tothe problems of the rest of the world? Forbes asked, Couldvisualization help a woman in the slums of Brazil feed her babies?How about positive self-talk or goal setting? How would this womanreact to being told that she didnt plan to fail, she just failedto plan? (pg. 29) The answer, it just does not apply. Thesuffering that is around us should make us question where ourpriorities lie. If the truths of self-help cannot be applied to therest of the world then is the message of self-help reallyapplicable? Does it get to the cause of our problems? The answer isa resounding NO!

It would seem that if a cure were to betotally accurate it would be universal. The problems that affect usin our society seem to be the same for other societies as well,right? The truth, this is incorrect. We here in America arespoiled. Every day a new addiction or phobia seems to make its wayinto the headlines of our American newspapers, and for every newproblem, a new self-help book is written to help individualsovercome that problem. However, what applies to our Westerncivilization does not apply to the rest of the world. There is realsuffering going on in our world which makes these man-made phobiasabsolutely ridiculous to the rest of the world.

The problem with the self-help movement isits primary focus. The very title should give a clue as to whatthat focus is all about, self. When we begin to concentrate onself, we take the focus away from God. When this happens we becomeconcerned with how we feel, what affects us, and how we can benefitrather than loving the Lord and placing others first. Our spirituallives become result oriented. As long as things are going our way,then we must be spiritual because God is smiling on us. We becomemore concerned with pleasing ourselves than pleasing God.